Liquid Friday renews annual FCSA accreditation

Summer for us means our annual FCSA audit! We’re pleased to share that we’ve successfully passed and had our accreditation renewed for both our umbrella and CIS services.
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This is always important to us. The Freelancer and Contractor Services Association is the UK’s foremost professional body in our space, and accreditation reflects our ongoing commitment to doing things properly and supporting our contractors and recruitment partners with integrity. 

About FCSA accreditation

Back in 2008, the FCSA was created to uphold the highest standards in the contractor and freelancer supply chain, across umbrella companies, CIS payroll providers and contractor accountants.
With strict Codes of Compliance developed in consultation with HMRC, BEIS and leading industry trade bodies, FCSA accreditation is more than just a badge, it’s a rigorous, independently audited credential.

Accredited firms must annually demonstrate adherence to these codes, with audit reports made available to HMRC for maximum transparency. In an industry with (as yet) no formal government regulation, it has long represented the gold standard for ethical compliant practice. Over some very disruptive years for the industry, this has provided much-needed reassurance to contractors, recruitment agencies and end clients.

Why accreditation matters more than ever

The FCSA and its members have been lobbying for regulation of the umbrella sector for many years, and now it’s finally on the horizon, with the compliance landscape set to change dramatically from April 2026.

In draft legislation published in July, the government confirmed it will introduce Joint and Several Liability for PAYE and NICs in umbrella company arrangements. This means that where an umbrella company fails to pay the correct tax on contractors’ earnings, HMRC can recover the unpaid amount from the recruitment agency, or the end client if no agency is involved.

These reforms aim to close the tax gap, protect workers from unexpected tax liabilities and ensure fair competition in the market. With the shift in PAYE liability, agencies must ramp up their due diligence – and one of the most effective ways to do this is ensuring that only FCSA-accredited providers are included on their umbrella PSLs.

Debunking misinformation…

Naturally, the topic of umbrella regulation is a big talking point at the moment. Recently, the notion that “only by paying HMRC yourself are you protected”  has been circulated in an article in the recruitment press. This is not the case and has been widely debunked by respected industry experts.

Quite simply, protection stems from having contemporaneous evidence demonstrating that the umbrella, as employer, discharged PAYE correctly.
As we understand it, HMRC’s focus is on ensuring taxes are collected – not shifting compliance away from legitimate umbrella arrangements. What matters is that the umbrella maintains transparent, real-time proof of PAYE fulfilment. 

Key takeaway

Agencies must now double-down on due diligence, and FCSA accreditation remains the most credible, reliable benchmark of compliant practice. Combining this with the latest agency technology is the most effective way to ensure oversight and safeguard against risk.

With Stride, agencies can now see the VeriPAYE verification status for every candidate payment in near real-time, giving complete assurance that PAYE is being correctly processed. And with further enhancements to Stride coming soon, agencies will soon have even more tools at their fingertips to stay on the right side of regulation and protect their business.